


Where the waves break

by bestaceinspace



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Beaches, F/F, Femslash, Vacation, alternative universe, photographer!Anna, spn femslash, writer!Ruby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-15
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-19 10:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1466125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestaceinspace/pseuds/bestaceinspace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You are a writer, then?” Anna asked, clearly interested.<br/>“I’m”, Ruby said, rolling her eyes. “Trying to keep being one since I can’t seem to find inspiration anywhere”, she added, which was true but not completely, since the girl standing right in front of her was the same one who started to free Ruby from her writer’s block. It was so stupid, and Ruby felt a bit dumb about it, she couldn’t deny.<br/>“Maybe you are not looking in the right places”, Anna told her, like she knew a secret. Ruby was suddenly even more interested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where the waves break

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a pic spam post I saw on tumblr with an idea for an AU story where Ruby is a writer and Anna is a young photographer. I thought it was perfect and had to write it. :)

**This fic now also has a[playlist](http://8tracks.com/sherlockstarked/where-the-waves-break) :)**

.

_“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came…”_

**John F. Kennedy**

_._

_Not so far from the sea, if you squeeze your eyes just for a moment, you might see a tiny red dot in the blue horizon. She is a wanderer, I thought to myself, after minutes of just watching, seeing as her long ginger hair looked like fire under the sun._

_I wondered where she would go from there, where she had come from. I watched her every move, but didn’t dare getting closer. She seemed like she waited for something. Sometimes she just fell down, and her knees would get covered in sand while she put her hands together in front of her chest. Maybe she was praying, I wouldn’t know. She held onto something I could not see._

_She also looked like she held onto herself. She put her hands around her body, tight around her shoulders, almost like a hug, rubbing her palms against her arms to keep warm against the cold wind by the shore._

_Waves were always breaking in front of her, but she didn’t seem scared._

_She wouldn’t care to be taken, I thought, but she always stood up and left._

_Sometimes I even thought I saw part of the ocean being left behind on her face, as tears streamed down her cheeks, waves breaking inside her eyes…_

_._

It had only been four days when Ruby started thinking it had all been a terrible mistake. She couldn’t believe she thought she could leave behind such a busy life to simply relax by the ocean. It wasn’t like her at all. She didn’t even like the beach all that much. Always too hot, always sunny. She always ended up with sand in her hair and sometimes even in her mouth. She almost… She hated it, to be honest.

The thing was it had all been her manager’s fault. He was the one responsible for sending Ruby away for a few weeks of vacation at this new opened hotel by the beach. _It is a very quiet, reserved place, Ruby, you might even enjoy it_ , he had said.  _And maybe you will find some inspiration and…_

That was one of the main reasons, Ruby suddenly noticed, maybe he was just desperate for her to write a new novel, cause they both knew it had been a good few months since she had written anything that really excited them. In the end, it seemed like being a writer was not that perfect. All Ruby ever wanted was to never have to be bossed around by anyone, but, well, writers also had bills to pay, writers struggled, too, and nothing is ever as perfect as we think. Ruby had been struggling for months and almost going insane with the most terrible writer’s block she had ever had. It had been impossible for her to concentrate and for inspiration to bless her. Maybe she should give it a shot.  _Maybe._

She had never been a calm person, that was correct, and the only moments of quietness she had were when she was writing. Maybe that was why writing had always been so important to Ruby. She needed those moments to just spit everything out, all that she kept inside during the whole day. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to try and relax by the sea.

She stood up from her bed then, after another sleepless night (insomnia, always a good friend of hers) and put on some jeans and a tank top. Yes, she was at the beach, but it wasn’t like she would suddenly start wearing a bikini. No way. Ruby also didn’t forget to take her journal as she left, as well as her favorite pen, because you never know when inspiration will hit you.

She sat down on the sand for a while until she saw a girl in the distance, close to the shore. Ruby watched as the stranger’s red hair flowing against the cold wind from the early morning. Ruby simply ignored it; at first, trying to deny the fact that she was interested in knowing more about that girl, and why she was alone at the beach at such time, the only other person there besides Ruby. There was something incredibly calm and beautiful and poetic in the way her hair of fire started to shine against the early morning sun light, causing such a beautiful contrast on her pale skin.

Soon, and Ruby didn’t know how, she had her pen in hands and her journal open on her lap. She started at all the words she had written, blinking a few times, sleep finally getting to her. Ruby ignored how tired her body was and kept writing until the sun was high in the sky, and the mysterious girl was gone.

Something inside Ruby wished she had the chance to see that girl again.

Maybe the vacations were not supposed to be over yet.

.

_"I'm not afraid of heights, deep water, or love. I'm afraid of falling, drowning, and a broken heart."_

**Unknown**

.

“You shouldn’t be sitting there, you know?” A voice brought Ruby back from her thoughts. It was afternoon, but the sun was still hot on her skin. She looked up from her journal, her eyes searching for the person who spoke. Her eyes stopped when she saw a young red headed girl. She had a camera on her hands and a bright smile on her face.

“I’m sorry?” Ruby asked.

“You shouldn’t be there by the rocks, it’s dangerous”, she repeated.

“Oh, I’m okay”, Ruby assured the girl, but she closed her journal anyway before standing up. Her body was all sore, but she had some work done and made it all made up for it. “What are you up to there…?” Ruby asked when she was close to the other girl, looking down the very expensive camera she had with her.

“Anna”, she answered, “Anna Milton.”

“Ruby”, Ruby said. “So what are you up to, Anna?”

“Oh”, Anna said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I took some pictures of you, if you don’t mind”, she explained, looking down at her hands nervously, her cheeks turning a bit pink.

“I actually hate when people take pictures of me”, Ruby said, and she was surprised, to say the least, she was not used to people taking pictures of her, even she being a bit famous and all that because of her books. All writers are at least a little reserved, and Ruby was no different. “But I’m sure you won’t delete them if I asked so I don’t mind, really”, Ruby added, trying to be a little nicer to Anna, which was not always that normal for Ruby. She usually didn’t care much what people thought about her.

“I’m sorry”, Anna apologized quickly.

“No, it is fine”, Ruby assured again. “I wasn’t going anywhere with what I was trying to write so I don’t really mind the interruption.”

“You are a writer, then?” Anna asked, clearly interested.

“I’m”, Ruby said, rolling her eyes. “Trying to keep being one since I can’t seem to find inspiration anywhere”, she added, which was only part true since the girl standing right in front of her was the same one who started to free Ruby from her writer’s block. It was so stupid, and Ruby felt a bit dumb about it, she couldn’t deny.

“Maybe you are not looking in the right places”, Anna told her, like she knew a secret. Ruby was suddenly even more interested.

“Why do you say that?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow at Anna. Anna just smiled at her, reaching out with her hand.

“Would you go on a walk with me?” Anna asked and, after a while of just staring at Anna, Ruby took her hand.

And that’s when it all really started.

.

Ruby was more interested in her French fries than anything else. Anna kept telling her that she should enjoy the sunset, but who would pay attention to such thing when you had ice cream and French fries right in front of you? Anna’s camera kept flashing and flashing as she kept taking pictures, ignoring every time Ruby told her that her ice cream would melt.

“Anna, I’m going to steal your camera”, Ruby threatened, making a very serious face. Anna looked at Ruby, and, after considering, she just rolled her eyes and sat back down at their table. Ruby threw an arm around Anna’s shoulders and held a French fry for her to eat, and Anna would happily do so it wasn’t for the ice cream that was all over it.

“I can’t believe you eat this”, Anna said, looking at Ruby with methodic eyes, still unsure about the whole idea.

“It’s good”, Ruby insisted. “Anything is good with fries.”

“No”, Anna disagreed again. “Ice cream is good. French fries are good, but together? I’m not so sure.”

“Are you that scared of trying something new?”

“Fine”, Anna gave up. It took her a second to analyze the different taste in her mouth, but, after a while, she decided that, well, it was not so bad.

“It’s okay”, she told Ruby. “But I’m going to go with the old fashioned way.”

“Knock yourself out”, Ruby said, letting go of Anna’s shoulder.

“Just one more thing”, Anna held her camera again, and before Ruby could say anything, she heard another flash, this time the light shining right at her face.

“What was that about?” Ruby asked, looking at Anna, who was trying not to laugh. She then showed Ruby the picture she had just taken.

“You had to take a picture of me when I have ice cream on my nose?!”

“Come on, you look cute”, Anna said, setting her camera back on her lap.

“I’m not  _cute_ ”, Ruby said, stressing the last word like it was something gross. Anna simply ignored her and shrugged. She knew Ruby was all soft under the ice armor she wore all the time.

“Here, let me see it again”, Ruby asked, closing the distance between the two of them one more time. As Anna showed her the picture again, Ruby took the chance to spread some ice cream all over Anna’s cheek. Afterwards, Ruby smiled wider, feeling proud of herself for tricking Anna so easily.

“Ruby!”

“Pay back is a bitch”, Ruby laughed at her revenge. Anna quickly cleaned her cheek, but since Ruby was still looking at her funny, she was sure she missed something.

“What?”

“Now,  _you_ look cute all pissed off”, Ruby explained before leaning in to kiss some ice cream out of Anna’s mouth.

.

_“She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like when you're swimming and you want to put your feet down on something solid, but the water's deeper than you think and there's nothing there.”_

**Julia Gregson**

.

“So you are saying you are all by yourself in a big mansion?”  Ruby said, surprised after Anna explained to her about the Milton’s. Apparently they were a “bit” rich.

“That’s not like that, my parents let me spent a few weeks here to clear my head, but they are the ones who come to the house more often.”

“Is it just you and them?” Ruby asked. She didn’t know why, but she was quite sure Anna was an only child. She never really talked much about her life.

“Oh, no, no”, Anna answered quickly. “My brothers and I used to come to the beach every summer, that’s why we needed a house that big.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Five”, Anna said to what Ruby whistled.

“Wow, I’m sure it must have been like hell for you, you know, being the only girl.”

“Not really, they were always nice to me”, Anna said honestly. “A bit protective and all, but it was okay.”

Anna then looked down at their bare feet leaving marks all over the sand as they walked. They had their fingers laced together, and it had been exactly a month since they first met and started to date. Well, sort of, since none of them decided to name what they had just yet. They didn’t know how it would end after the summer was over, anyway.

“Look”, Ruby spoke, making Anna look up again. Right ahead of them where the exact same rocks Ruby was sitting on when they first met. “We should go sit there for a while; you might even get inspired to take some pictures”, Ruby suggested, also thinking about doing some writing if it was the case.

But when Ruby started to walk ahead, still holding Anna’s hand, Anna stopped, making Ruby freeze in place.

“I don’t think so”, Anna said. Ruby let go of her hand then, looking back to face her girlfriend.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”, Anna tried to ignore the worried look on Ruby’s face. “It’s fine, I just don’t want to.”

“Anna”, Ruby spoke again, holding both their hands together. She was starting to get really concerned with the way Anna’s smile simply vanished. “Come on, it’s okay, you don’t need to feel so—“

“Ruby, no!” Anna almost screamed, letting go of Ruby’s hands. She rested her hands on her face, covering her eyes. Ruby quickly held Anna by her shoulders to try and calm her down.

“Hey, Anna”, she called, making Anna sit down by her side on the sand. “I’m sorry, let’s just rest for a while, okay?” Anna simply nodded with her head, still covering her face with her hands. Ruby kept silent for long minutes until Anna looked up again, her eyes a bit red.

“I’m sorry, Ruby”, Anna simply whispered. “I think you deserve to know.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to”, Ruby disagreed. She didn’t know if she even deserved to have Anna around, let alone know all these things about her personal life.

“My brother died when he was only five”, Anna let out in one go. “He fell on those same rocks. It was all too quick; there was nothing we could do.”

Anna let her head fall down again and she simply started at her hands, her camera still hanging around her neck and resting on her chest. She looked so lost.

“I’m so sorry”, it was all Ruby could say.

“I had a hard time letting go, trying to forget, we all had”, Anna kept speaking, still not meeting Ruby’s eyes. “I just couldn’t, you know, let him go; he and I were so close. His name was Gabriel. He was such a little angel, Ruby…” Her voice started to drift away. Ruby then threw an arm around Anna’s shoulder and that’s when Anna finally let go and rested against Ruby’s arms. If she wasn’t holding Anna, Ruby thought, she feared Anna would simply drown away.

“It’s okay”, Ruby heard herself say, not really used to being so serious like that. “Anna—“, she tried to add something else but she simply didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to make people feel better. Ruby was great with words in paper but when it came to actually say those same words to people, she just couldn’t make herself speak.

So all she could do was to hold Anna as long as she needed. After long ten minutes, Anna backed off and dried her tears with her shaking hands.

“You wanna know why I love taking pictures so much?” She asked to what Ruby just nodded.

“I guess I wanna make things last”, Anna explained, shrugging. “I know moments are not forever, everything will end someday, and I can’t make myself accept that.”

“When I take pictures, it’s like I take back some control, like I’m not so hopeless. I feel like I can make something stay with me, even after a moment is gone. I’m terrified of people leaving, Ruby”, Anna confused, and Ruby felt like she had just got punched in the stomach. She had been thinking about how it would be when they had to go separate ways. She didn’t want to have to leave Anna, but it would be inevitable, even thought, apparently, Anna didn’t want it to happen either.

“I’m still here, right?” Ruby said, not thinking about something better to tell Anna.

“Would you stay a little longer if I asked?” Anna tried, looking at Ruby with tired eyes. She smiled though her tears anyway. She still looked beautiful, Ruby thought, appreciating how the sunlight just enhanced Anna’s beauty.

“We can stay here as long as you want”, Ruby said, and Anna quickly threw her arms around Ruby’s waist, almost knocking down them both on the sand. Ruby just smiled back, leaning in for a kiss.

They stayed like that for a long time, kissing and enjoying the warm feeling of the sun against their skin until it was almost night time and a flash caught Ruby’s attention, causing her to stop in the middle of a kiss.

“What—“

“Just something to keep with me”, Anna explained, showing Ruby a picture she had just taken of them kissing. Ruby rolled her eyes, but kissed Anna again with no complains, ignoring when Anna decided to take more pictures of them together.

.

_"I was drowning in my sorrows, but my sorrows they learned how to swim."_

**U2**

.

“Come on, Ruby”, Anna kept saying, trying to practically drag Ruby with her closer to the sea. The water was already covering their feet, starting to reach their ankles, but Ruby refused to go further. She had already agreed to wear a damn bikini, and that was all she would do for Anna that day (which she knew was a big lie, Anna had a way of getting what she wants, whenever she wants).

“Anna, I told you I really don’t like the beach”, Ruby protested.

“That’s not true”, Anna ignored, still dragging Ruby by the hand. Ruby was almost sure Anna wanted to add  _“you met me here, at a beach, you can’t hate it all that much”,_ but didn’t.

“I don’t like the sea, okay”, Ruby kept saying. “And I told you a million times I _really_ hate the beach.”

“Then why did you decide to stay?” Anna questioned, letting go of Ruby’s hand, finally giving up. “You said you thought about leaving when you had been here for only four days.”

“I was going to leave but—“

“But what?” Anna asked, curious, and seeing that Ruby would keep shut, she frowned at her girlfriend. “Ruby?”

“Something got my attention”, Ruby admitted.

“What did?”

“Well, actually, someone…” Ruby started, not sure to continue, feeling dumb about spilling out her feelings.

 “Someone?” Anna insisted.

“I noticed someone on the fourth day I was here, I got inspired and decided to stay and…” Ruby tried to explain. “Let’s just said I had been watching you, too, before we met”, she told it all, finally. Suddenly, she felt Anna’s arms around her neck, holding on tight.

“You wrote about me?” Anna asked, close to Ruby’s face. Ruby felt herself get warmer as Anna held onto her. Ruby just rolled her eyes at that, but threw her arms around Anna’s waist, pressing their hot skins together.

“I was wrong, then”, Anna said.

“Why?” Ruby asked, trying to ignore the fact that Anna kept taking them further and further into the sea.

“You knew where to look all along.”

Ruby smiled at that, and Anna had a victorious grin on her lips.

“I was just not sure I would have you around for long”, Ruby confessed. Anna looked at Ruby, amazed, her eyes almost shinning.

“Well, you can have me around as long as you want”, Anna said, close to Ruby’s mouth, “if you let me take pictures of you whenever I like.”

Ruby just groaned, trying to sound annoyed.

“Deal?” Anna offered, giving Ruby a quick kiss on the lips.

“Fine”, Ruby finally agreed, shaking her head. She still needed inspiration, after all, and she needed Anna around to keep her at bay. She needed Anna because she… Because she had fallen and drowned, as sappy as it was.

“Deal”, Ruby finally said it, kissing Anna back as they walked little by little deeper into the water.

.

_“Love is like water. We can fall in it. We can drown in it. And we can't live without it.”_

**Teresa Conroy**


End file.
